Without Jun
by gamegirl07
Summary: A story about how different life would be if Jun was taken from Kazuya prematurely not by Ogre, but by natural causes and Kazuya was never infected with the Devil Gene. KazuyaXOC and JinXXiaoyu. Read before judging.
1. Chapter 1

Without Jun

Chapter 1

Jin stared at nothing in particular. He felt mute and completely detached. Ever since that day, he hadn't felt like speaking to anyone not even his father. He found his mind completely devoid of thought and whenever his mind did decide to think about something, it always returned back to that day. Images would flash through his mind and he'd become immobile. He didn't _want_ to think about anything then. He needed to continue on somehow with his life and this was the best way he knew how to cope. He still had high school to attend to. Grades he still had to keep up. Clubs he had to continue being part of. These were all things his mother would want him to do and he would try his utmost to do so even if he no longer had the energy or motivation for it. He hadn't so much as touched his homework. With a sigh, he began on it in a mechanical manner putting what little effort he could muster into it for his mother's sake.

Downstairs, Kazuya was simply asleep. Over the past few days he had become so lackluster that he hardly did anything else. He had continue to go to work at the Mishima Zaibatsu, but one of his coworkers concerned for his mental health recommended that he take a vacation. At first, Kazuya had refused. He didn't want to be separated from the only thing that gave his life meaning now and a sense of normalcy, but this coworker was stubborn. He was his foster brother—Lee Chaolan—and did everything in his power to have Kazuya take time off for himself. With enough votes from others, Kazuya was practically forced to take an indefinite holiday. It was either that or see a psychiatrist to prove Lee wrong. No psychiatrist in their right minds would give him a clean bill of mental health. He was utterly depressed and he knew it so now he was here at home with nothing to do. He didn't want to do anything anyways. He wasn't sure if he wanted to be left alone and he wasn't sure if he liked having no one to talk to, but Jin was unreachable now. Jin would come home from school and Kazuya would try to make small conversation with him, but Jin would all but ignore him and lock himself away in his dungeon otherwise known as his room.

Kazuya couldn't quite understand why anyone would want to be left alone at a time like this. When dealing with the loss of someone who had affected one's life in such profound ways, what was the point of silence? Shouldn't something be said? Jun was no longer around and sooner or later they would have to come to grips with this fact. Just not today.

Kazuya never felt like getting up in the morning and he never slept in the bedroom. So the living room couch became his second bedroom. There was no energy to be had and all he thought about was Jun. He thought of the good times and the really great times then the bad times and even worse times. They all came together in a hodgepodge of memories. Silently, he wished he might've spoken to Jin about it, but it was out of the question. His thoughts were his alone. He'd think of her flaws and all her good points to the point where he thought he could've written a book about it all. Then, usually around midnight, he'd think of her death. It was untimely, completely unforeseen. In hindsight, Kazuya could remember Jun's hesitation whenever he tried to do any sort of lovemaking with her. He'd chalk it up to her not being in the mood. After being married for so long it was no surprise that she'd become a bit complacent with the family life she already had. She worked as well perhaps she just didn't have the energy. Kazuya, after a while, stopped any sexual pursuits with her after being rejected more times than he cared to admit. At the time it was frustrating, but he wished he had paid more attention. But he had questioned her and she always told him she wasn't in the mood. Still, he thought there must have been something he could have said to get her to tell him more.

So much time past after those incidents that he didn't think to connect Jun's sudden weakness with it. After dragging her off to the doctor so that she might get checked out, he knew something was wrong. They just didn't know what. They spent basically the whole day there. Examination after examination until they decided to do an X-ray, then after much discussion, a mammogram. Breast cancer. Widespread and metastatic. But they hadn't simply given up then. She went through treatment after treatment. Surgery was out of the question. But there was radiation therapy, chemotherapy, hormone therapy, and any other therapy they could think of—Kazuya had lost count. All the while, Jun did not become any better. She grew so weak that even therapy was out of the question lest it kill her outright. Eventually Kazuya and Jin had found themselves in a hospital room with Jun who was practically dying right in front of them. At some point, she was simply on life support, but Kazuya made the decision after only three days that she would not be kept alive under such conditions—it would be a dishonor to her. Kazuya didn't ask for Jin's opinion, he simply couldn't continue to torture her. If she was to die then he would allow it and not force the issue. Her body was too sick to live on. She'd become skeletal after all the treatments and she hardly looked like her normal healthy self.

He had to keep his head the whole time. He couldn't even remember shedding one tear. The doctor came in and discussed what was to be done with the body, what funeral home they were to commit her and etcetera. All the while Jin couldn't stop crying and when he did, he was closed off to the world. He was little more than an empty husk. It was Kazuya who had to go to the funeral home and discuss her death as if it were a normal business transaction. Of course, there was money involved, choices to be made, people to call and Kazuya somehow kept his composure. Only when everything was done and Jun was buried and gravestone planted did he lose that composure so that he might cry where no one would see. He couldn't lock himself in his room. That room was too much for him. It contained far too many intimate memories. Even looking at the bed that they shared would send him to a morose state. That was when he migrated to the living room.

The sun would come up and the sun would come down and Kazuya could care less. The blinds were drawn and he hadn't seen the light of day for nearly a month. He only had himself to keep him company and he found he disliked this. Tiring of Jin's self-imposed non-communication, when he stepped in from school, Kazuya asked how his day was before he completely bypassed him once again.

"The same," he responded, "It's always the same."

"You learn the same thing every day?" Kazuya asked with a hint of sarcasm.

"You know what I mean. At least I'm being more productive than you."

"Oh?"

"What do you even do all day? Some role model."

"The _only_ reason you're doing anything at all is because you have a legal obligation to go to that school. I, on the other hand, have no such obligations."

"So you're not just skipping work."

"I was forced to leave for a while," Kazuya retorted.

"So you're on vacation."

"Technically."

"And this is your vacation."

"Basically."

"Go somewhere. Do something already. Act like you're still alive."

"I'm to take advice from the kid who locks himself in his room every chance he gets."

"Well it's the best advice you're going to get hanging around here all the time," Jin said turning. "Oh, and take a shower already. At least I still clean myself. Now if you excuse me, I'm going to lock myself in my room as I always do."

Jin did just this. He stared at the wall for hours and then mechanically started on his homework. It was a routine of his now. On the other side of the door Kazuya was taking Jin's advice about showering. He'd forgotten about essential things like eating and cleaning one's self. Jin almost grinned to himself when heard the shower being turned on. It meant that Kazuya had actually considered his words and that his advice meant more than he had been letting on. But then his thoughts darkened. He knew he was in a perpetually bad mood. No matter if something good happened to him, his mood would sour almost automatically and he couldn't help it. He wished he had better control over such things, but he didn't.

Jin had withdrawn into himself and Kazuya had lost any semblance of a life. Both walked aimlessly about not knowing or caring what they were heading towards. For now they simply allowed the onslaught of deep depression, wild and uncontrolled looking for guidance where there was none.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Damn…What the Hell…?" Kazuya muttered under his breath.

Against his better judgment, he returned to his bedroom. He needed to find a change of clothes and that was the only place he could find any. But his eyes had travelled to the bed and then to her side. She was gone. He couldn't quite wrap his mind around it. Even after everything he couldn't do it. He'd seen her fragile corpse, a far cry from what she had been. Still as he looked at her side, he wondered where she could be and if she might come back someday. It'd been so long now, it seemed unlikely. Was she really gone? Was she really not going to lie there again? Were they never to touch as they had in the past?

They'd grown apart the longer they lived together even before her cancer, but after her death his mind concentrated on the times before when they truly enjoyed each other's company, when their smiles weren't forced, and being around each other wasn't such a chore and riddled with arguments. The longer he stared at that bed the closer he felt he was coming to some precipice only to fall into an unending abyss. When he pulled himself away from it, he hadn't realized that the entire afternoon had passed. It was night time now. He snatched some clothes from the closet and grabbed other necessities from the drawers then evacuated the room as if it were on fire.

Finally, with his clothes on, he exited the house and climbed into his car. It'd been an eternity sense he'd drove the thing and the steering wheel felt foreign under his grasp. The radio was already on and the only thing that played was throwback hits. He felt strange and nostalgic. Suddenly without warning his eyes began to burn with tears. He hadn't even been thinking of Jun directly. He was unprepared for such an onslaught of emotions. It would take too much effort now to stop himself so he continued in this way driving in no particular direction and vision slightly impaired with tears.

He decided to stop somewhere after a while when his tears dried. He wondered if it was such a good idea to go somewhere, but he'd already decided that he would. He had to at least get out of the car and go inside just so he could tell himself that he had done it. He did just this after a good minute passed.

He hadn't realized that it was Friday. As soon as he stepped into the establishment, he heard the music blasting. He remembered this to be a restaurant that had a sports bar. On Fridays, however, there was karaoke. Kazuya could already hear the semi-good to just plain horrible singing. He didn't care and he was already there. He'd order something and watch what everyone else was doing. Perhaps this wasn't such a horrible idea. When he sat down at the bar and ordered something strong and acrid, he found it mildly entertaining to watch so many others enjoying themselves, laughing and carrying on.

But something caught his eye. Breasts. Nice, plump, and round ones. They were propped up for all to see. He'd never seen the like and found himself staring uncaring if she noticed or not. He wondered what they might feel like. He hoped they were soft like Jun's, but he also hoped that they might fill his entire hand if he ever fondled them…unlike Jun's. He hoped that the person whose breast they belonged to wouldn't be uncomfortable with such activities and _not_ act like a complete virgin…as Jun had. Kazuya vaguely remembered the woman looking towards him now. He proceeded to ordering another drink. He took note of the drink she had in front of her and asked for the bartender to give her another round. This time he was watching her reaction as the bartender placed the drink in front of her. She gave him a warming smile. Then she rose from her seat and took one right beside him. Kazuya made no complaints. She was closer now. He had a better view.

"I noticed you watching. If you weren't so handsome, I would have been completely offended. Lucky you."

"Have you been here long?"

"Long enough. My girlfriends dragged me out here. They say I spend too much time inside. Imagine that. And what about you?"

Kazuya found that he liked her voice—silky, smooth, and clear spoken. "I had nothing better to do. I really don't know how long I've been here—enough for three drinks."

"You must be some heavyweight. Three of those drinks? Next you'll be taking shots. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were trying to get yourself drunk."

"Just a buzz."

The woman sipped on her drink slowly. "And have you achieved that?"

"Not yet." Kazuya called the bartender over to him again and ordered another. Kazuya felt her eyes on him as he took down yet another drink, but he wasn't bothered.

"Any plans tonight?" the woman inquired.

"Nothing at all."

"Well, let me give you a better option than drunken stupor. C'mon, I have a nice place nearby."

When she stood up, he noticed how tall and muscular she was. Either she was actually a guy or an exercise buff. He still didn't care. He climbed to his feet as well and for a moment his world twirled around him until he regained his balance.

"You alright," the woman asked a bit concerned.

Kazuya looked at her and grinned. "I suppose I achieved that buzz."

The woman took his hand into hers and practically led him forth.

"I thought you said you came here with your friends?" Kazuya asked as they neared the exit.

"I did. I met them here. They won't mind if I leave a little early. They did say that I should get out more."

When they stepped outside, Kazuya noticed her dark, coppery hair. It shined in the moonlight. Her skin tone was a dark tan and his eyes could see its smoothness. He took her all in lustfully. She was quite shapely and fit; thick in all the right places—in the all the places Jun had not been. Kazuya was glad that she drove. He now realized that he was far more intoxicated than what was normal for him. He practically stumbled into her apartment and he had no idea how he managed to get to her bedroom. But when there, he knew exactly what to do—she did as well and she was not hesitant.

She allowed him to fondle her breast as much as he wanted to and to suck them as long as he wanted. It gave her pleasure when he did such things. They stripped off each other's clothes like experts and they were soon naked before each other. She wanted him to pleasure her as fiercely as he could. She moaned with pleasure as he ate her out repeatedly and with growing confidence. She might have called out his name had she known it. When he aroused her to a degree he was satisfied, he replaced his tongue with something much harder and erect. She gasped as he came harder and harder and she wanted more. She didn't protest when he turned her over tiring of missionary. He still penetrated her vagina as he continued as vigorously as humanly possible, hard and unyielding. And he still had access to her breast which he grabbed at. Her buttocks were so round and soft that he just had to smack it at least once maybe twice and she yelped with pleasure. That was only round one. They laid sprawled out on her sheets catching their breath. After a few minutes, she climbed on top of him, trying to arouse him once again. She massaged his lower area practically giving him a lap dance. She lowered herself so that her breasts were in reach of his hands. She smiled when he felt the now familiar strong grasp of his hands. She continued to move her hips rhythmically as she kissed him slowly and sensually from his neck down. And he was ready yet again. She felt his erection and rejoiced. In response to what he had done for her, she began to pleasure him as she gave him some head making sure her teeth never made contact slowly and rhythmically. She heard him sigh with pure and utter bliss—it made her smile to herself. She felt him pulling her back—he wanted to play with her breasts again, he was obsessed with them, she realized. That didn't bother her in the least. She thought her breast to be her best asset. She let him do as he pleased as she moved her body rhythmically against his. He was very warm. That was round two. They laid sprawled out again. Their legs entangled with one another. After another break, she began to run her tongue against his skin, but he was already erect. He pushed her onto the bed and took control of her this time. He was completely dominant and with reserves he didn't know he had, he rammed her against the headboard back and forth. She cried more, she wanted more force and he acquiesced. It was like riding a horse at top speed. She enjoyed the sweet pain and all she kept saying was "more". She was full of energy, but after the third round she thought she knew Kazuya's limits and he was pulling out breathless. Again they lay sprawled. After a while she was kissing him again, but he wasn't nearly as responsive. In fact, when she was done with her kissing routine, she found him sound asleep. With an exasperated sigh, she laid back onto the bed.

"Well, I guess three rounds will have to suffice…"

/

Kazuya woke up in a daze. It took him a moment to realize that he was completely naked and he had no idea where his clothes might be. He looked up to an unfamiliar ceiling. Nothing seemed to ring a bell.

"Who's Jun?"

Startled, he turned his head to behold the woman from the bar with her deep red hair and lovely breasts. She was naked as well and he once again had a great view. Last night came back to him quickly after that. But what startled him the most was hearing Jun's name on another woman's voice. His expression was genuinely confused as if she had just demanded he engineer an entire rocket.

"You talk in your sleep, did you know that? Who's this Jun woman?"

"What did I say?" Kazuya asked intrigued.

The woman shook her head. "I couldn't understand it—it was pretty much gibberish save for that name. She's your wife, isn't she? Of course, the first guy who makes it to round 3 would have to be married."

"I'm not married," he said as he sat up, his eyes searching around the room for his clothes. "Not that it matters."

"Oh, but it does."

"You weren't so concerned last night."

"I wasn't the most attentive person last night. I was definitely a bit tipsy. Are you leaving so soon?"

"I need to find my clothes."

It was then that he saw his shirt scrunched under the pillow and his other pieces of clothing scattered about the bed entangled with hers.

"Fine. It's probably none of my business anyways."

He put on his outfit from last night as quickly as possible, but he did not leave immediately. Instead he sat on the edge of the bed. "I _was_ married when she was alive. She died of breast cancer; late detection."

"I'm so sorry."

"Everyone says that when I tell them about her. It means they pity me. Is that how you feel about me now?"

"How long ago was this?" the woman asked instead of answering his question.

"Why does it matter?"

"It matters to me. You still dream about her. It must be recent."

"Who cares?"

The woman gave a short laugh. "Just having another pipe dream. I'm just some rebound chick for you. You were unhappy last night trying to drown yourself in your own sorrows and I come along. The only reason you came home with me was so you could be made to feel better if only for a little while. I'm just a one-night stand."

When he didn't say anything back, she climbed off of the bed and stood before him in all her nakedness. She was quite unashamed. Kazuya couldn't help but look. All attention was on her. She pushed him back onto the bed and climbed on top to trap him there.

"I'm sorry, did you have someplace to go?" she said slyly.

"No, not really." He hadn't even attempted to push her off. Somehow, he didn't feel the need. There was no reason to leave, not right now.

"Didn't think so," she said this as she began to massage him with her strong hands slowly leading into another lap dance.

This time he sat up as she eased off of him to a certain degree. Rhythmically she moved around and around, sometimes slow, sometimes fast until she felt his hardness. She went down lower, unzipping his pants so that she could get at her prize and she began to suck. He laid back then and let her do all the work. He was on cloud nine and couldn't remember any woman ever doing such things to him before. He found he liked it.

"And you call yourself an inside girl."

"As far as my friends know," she responded between mouthfuls.

"By the way, I might—

"I don't care if you come in my mouth, handsome." She continued unperturbed.

"I don't even know your name."

"I was wondering when you might ask for it—it's always a good sign. Leah Dawn. Yours?"

"Kazuya Mishima."

"I like it. It sounds important. Wait a minute…"

She paused longer than usual much to Kazuya's dissatisfaction. He found she had left his rod quite unattended as she came up to peer at him, but he used his hand to shove her back down again—not too gently, but not too hard. She got the picture.

"What is it?" Kazuya finally asked curious about her sudden surprise.

"You're that CEO, aren't you? You're practically a celebrity."

"I'm not. I try to stay _out_ of the news."

"I know. I haven't even so much as seen a picture of you. A shame. I think the cameras would like you."

"CEOs aren't exactly popular news—people could care less."

"Well, I'm always curious about things like that especially about wildly successful corporations like yours."

"Should I have disguised my name then?"

"Oh, no, it's not a big deal really. It startled me is all. Rather dinky place to have been going to last night—not exactly upscale."

"I saw a place and I went to it. Wasn't looking for anyplace specific."

"I see." Her tongue began on a different pattern now. "Tell me about Jun."

"And why would you care to hear about her?"

"I don't. But if you had someone to talk to, you wouldn't be at random bars. So tell me about her. Besides, you might stay up longer…tell me about sex with her."

"That's rather intimate details…especially to someone I hardly know."

"Oh, don't hold out on me now. I want to hear. I'm sure you've been comparing me to her the whole time—you can't fool me."

"Fine," he said letting her win. He never imagined he would be saying such things aloud to anyone. "Jun was never all that good in bed. She was a clam. I had to put in a lot of effort to get her to open up. Very difficult to please. In fact, she was a virgin when I met her and I was her first."

"But not yours?"

"No. But that was a good thing else we'd be completely clueless. I had to get her at the right moment. She had to be in the right mood and I had to keep her in that mood. I don't do things roughly with her. I start slow, very slowly—maybe just kissing and caressing for half an hour. I have to cater to her or else she closes up again. The trick is getting her to relax and become…compliant. I have to distract her even as I insert. She doesn't like feeling uncomfortable not even for a moment. Once I'm inside her, still I'm careful with her. Too hard and she wants no more of it and nothing is worse than being told to stop in midstream. She'd done it before, that's how I know. It's horrible and embarrassing. So I don't ram her—I just continue to distract. She does like when I kiss her stomach. I save that for when I really need it which would be at this point. I do all the work. She responds in her own way. If I can get her to moan just once, I know I've done my job. She might wrap her arms around me. She might even move with me and copy my rhythm—it doesn't happen often. She kind of just lies there otherwise and allows me to do as I please up to a certain point. And when she wants to be done, I have to pull out. I hardly ever test my own limits with her—it never gets that far."

"That all sounds very…exhausting and unsatisfying. And you married this woman?"

"I didn't marry her for the sex, alright."

"I can see that. That's a lot of pent up energy."

"I can cope with most anything when it comes to women. For her, sex was far and in between. It was not at the top of her priorities."

"Why did you love her then? Why did you marry her? Physical attraction?" Leah had been right. He stayed up a lot longer when he was talking about Jun.

"No, not physical attraction, not really. She wasn't ugly, though. She was quite pretty."

"Beautiful?"

"No. Pretty. She had a nice face, a nice smile, soft hair, unguarded eyes. But her breasts were small along with the rest of her. She wasn't even someone I would typically be attracted to."

"And yet you loved her? Why?"

"It's indescribable. I was drawn to her for no particular reason. We didn't see eye to eye on many things. She was a good girl, though. Someone that I needed in my life. She was stubborn, full of energy, and deadest on changing me. I allowed her to do it. I knew that she was a good influence and that she truly cared. And she had a pleasant personality. I'd never met someone so…emphatic, so empathetic. I wanted her to stay in my life. I had no one else like that and I needed that."

"I see now…That's really quite…beautiful. Not many guys go for what they need…they go for what they want and that's the end of the story. Did you have any kids?"

"Just one, a son. Jun didn't want to go through the process of having another. I wasn't completely fond of having a child, but I thought he should have a sibling—someone to play with. Jin—that's his name—grew up on his own, sheltered from everyone else until I convinced Jun that it'd do him more harm than good to never have attended public school and meet his own peers. Jun was very protective. I thought she was being silly. It was an argument we had often until she gave in."

"He's still in school now?"

"Highschool."

"And I suppose he isn't doing so well now."

"Probably not, but his grades haven't suffered."

Leah stopped her activities when his erection fizzled out. Of course, she knew it would happen once they started talking about his son rather than his wife. His son was an obligation, his responsibility, not something to get aroused about. She zipped his jeans back up and sat down on her bed next to Kazuya. He sat up eventually.

"Let's go somewhere to eat," Kazuya said before she could say anything, "I'm starving."

"Alright, well, let me get myself ready, handsome."

She was indeed still naked and she wasn't going to eat any proper food until her mouth was properly cleaned.

/

Kazuya hardly mentioned the fact that he had left his car at the bar. He simply let her do the driving to any place that sold food. He wasn't a picky eater especially not now since everything had started tasting drab and the same. Even the smell of food didn't pique his senses. He hadn't eaten anything in days and had he not been starving, he might have skipped eating once again. Leah chose a small restaurant.

Now that she no longer wore her high heels, he noticed that she matched his height rather than tower over him. It was strange not having to look down but even this didn't bother him.

"So, are you paying?" she asked with one of her sly smiles.

"Depends."

"On what?"

"Whether we can have a repeat of last night."

"You're lucky I'm not easily offended. Of course, we can. Most definitely, handsome. But that also depends."

"On what?" Kazuya asked warily.

"Oh, don't be like that. I wouldn't ask anything too outrageous. Depends on whether we can do other things as well. I think I'd have fun hanging out with you and it doesn't look like you have anything else to do besides. How does that sound?"

"I'm not opposed to it.

"Good."

"So what would you like?"

Leah smiled then. "You mean I can order anything off of here and you'd pay for it?"

"Anything."

"Any price range?"

"I don't care."

"Well," Leah said enjoying this breakfast even more.

Kazuya was quite amused by her giddiness just like a kid in a candy store. He was even more amused when she wind up getting one of the most inexpensive items there after looking through the entire menu claiming that it was her favorite hence the reason she had chosen this place.

"Isn't there something you wanted to ask me?" Leah said as they waited for their orders.

"What do you mean?"

"Well aren't you going to ask me if I'm a man or not?"

"Should I be asking that?" Kazuya asked with genuine confusion.

"I'm too tall, too muscular, all of that stuff. Every guy I've ever managed to date asked me that same question. Now it's your turn."

"But it's obvious. I've _seen_ you."

"You mean to tell me that it didn't cross your mind?"

"Unless there's some secret you haven't told me I don't see what the big fuss is about."

Leah smiled then, stood up and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"What was that for?" Kazuya asked when she got back to her seat.

"I think I like you even more."

Just then, Kazuya's cell began to ring. It took him a moment to realize that it was his and another to actually find it in one of his jean pockets. Caller ID read "Jin."

"Yes," Kazuya said quickly.

"Where the Hell have you been?" Jin asked with little pretense.

Kazuya couldn't remember if Jin had ever spoken to him in that tone, but he didn't feel like commenting on this fact. "I'm at a restaurant eating breakfast. Shouldn't you be at school?"

"Not until 9. Dad, I didn't see you at all yesterday and I didn't see you this morning. What was I supposed to think? You didn't even call."

"I wasn't aware I had to tell _you_ every time I want to go somewhere."

Jin sighed exasperatedly through the phone. It sounded more like static. "You don't. It's just. Anything could have happened to you."

"Well, I don't plan on dropping dead anytime soon lest I get ran over by a bus."

"That's not funny."

"I'm taking your advice," Kazuya reminded the other.

"Are you alright? You're not in trouble are you?"

"Jin, I'm not going to give you a recount of what I've been doing. I'm fine, better than fine, so you can rest easy. I'll be back later on today."

"Okay. Until later then."

After he put his phone away and looked up, he found Leah grinning.

"Better than fine, you say? I'll take that as a compliment."

Their food eventually came and Kazuya practically inhaled his food. Gone was the lackluster taste of food. Everything had its own individual flavor and his taste buds were swimming in pure satisfaction. Leah giggled at his bad manners not at all put off by it—she simply continued at her own pace.

"Well, Kazuya," Leah began after she finally finished her food, "Much as I would like to keep hanging out with you—I have work to go to. I'll be late for sure, but I think it's a good tradeoff for such an entertaining time."

They exchanged numbers before it was all said and done. Leah took him back to his car and they parted ways. He decided he'd keep her around for now. She made for a good distraction. Even if he had eventually spoken of Jun, it hadn't felt at all painful. In fact, it had the opposite effect. Finally, he could say what was on his mind.

/

AN: Way more descriptive than I originally planned to get. Hope you enjoyed. ^^;


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Kazuya was back on the couch by the time Jin came home and he was still there when he had to go off to school in the morning. Jin hadn't realized how relieved he'd be when he found his father back in his proper place—asleep and oblivious to whether or not Jin came back home from school. He had wanted his father to tell him exactly what he had been doing that time before, but he knew how foolish it would be to expect his father to do as much. Besides, it may have been completely uneventful. Suddenly, his cell rang. Kazuya wasn't quite as oblivious as Jin had first thought. He answered the cell phone fairly quickly.

"Yes," he heard his father say. Jin could tell he was trying to keep his voice low, but he stepped closer so that he might hear. "Is that really what you want to do?" Kazuya paused as he listened to the cell. "Yes, but—". Another pause. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I'll be there."

"And where are you going?" Jin asked.

"Out."

Kazuya was already climbing off the couch and heading to his room to gather some things. Jin, knowing he had no hope of getting a real response, sat back and watched as his father gathered up his duffel bag and came back out of his room with it packed.

"Are you leaving?"

"I'm going out. I'll be back tomorrow."

"Not tonight?"

"Not tonight."

"And what if I decided to do the same thing?"

"Well, that would be different. I'd want to know where you were going."

"See?"

"See what? You're not even at a legal drinking age. Of course, you'd have to tell me where you are. I have to be a _somewhat_ responsible parent."

"And how would you even know I was going somewhere besides school, if you're not here to see me leave?"

"You can pick up the phone just like you did before. If you want to leave and not tell me, well there's nothing I can do about that, now is there?"

"So you don't care?" Jin said back with a bit of sarcasm.

"Now you're putting words in my mouth. Why aren't you locked up in your room like usual?"

"It's the weekend, Dad."

"So? Do you ever do anything different?"

"That's not the point. I could do something different."

"But you won't. Would you stop bothering me already?"

"Fine. Glad you're taking my advice so seriously."

"Maybe you should do the same."

"I would…but I have a lot of homework. You have fun. Whatever it is you're doing."

"Don't do anything stupid," Kazuya said as a goodbye right before he left for good.

Jin couldn't imagine what it was his father could have been doing to entertain himself, but at least it was something. It was more than what he was doing, he was sure. It made him all the more wary. Without Jun around, he wondered if that might change him for the worst.

/

Kazuya hadn't really been able to refuse her because they had made a deal of sorts. Besides, he wasn't expected to do anything he wasn't already thoroughly acquainted with. It should have been quite obvious to him that she worked out and probably extensively. A woman would have to put a lot of hard work into gaining muscle visibly—a lot more than what a guy would have to. That she had invited him to a gym should not have come as a surprise. Yet he felt a bit apprehensive, embarrassingly enough. He couldn't remember the last time he had so much as stepped into one of them, but never in a million years did he think he'd be hesitant about going to one. Plain and simple, he was out of shape and he knew it. He was sure his fighting technique was beyond sloppy and his stamina to be pitiful. He was a CEO for crying out loud. What physical activity was required for such things? After defeating his father once and for all in battle, his interest in exercise had fizzled out to nothingness. There was no goal he was trying to reach, no one he was trying to defeat. And his wife hated fighting above all else and he knew he'd put her at ease once he ceased all such activities and pursued what most would call a mundane life.

But he had no excuses now. Jin was old enough to take care of himself and he was no longer trying to please his wife. So without further ado, he stepped into the place. The familiar smell of sweat and must hit his nose with a vengeance. Such things never used to bother him, but after being away from it for so long he was very nearly disgusted by the rancid scent. It was going to be a long day. He found Leah easily enough—she was for the time being the only female there and she was already working on the vertical leg press. It looked painful. She stopped when she saw his shadow come over her and got up from the station.

"Kazuya, you made it!"

She sounded so excited as if she was completely in her element and that he made a nice addition. Before he knew it, he was caught up in a powerful embrace and given hardly any time to reciprocate before she was pulling him off to some sort of new weight machine she'd been eyeing for a while. No one "eyes" new weight machines. Even when he was thoroughly into his training, he couldn't remember ever feeling especially excited about it—she was. He didn't know how it worked, so he watched her do it first and she went through quite a few reps. One hundred and eighty pounds was her maximum weight at least on this machine. He naturally had to do a little better than that, but he was at a dilemma—should he do just ten more pounds over or twenty. Was he really trying to impress her? Did it really matter? And how much was he really capable of? Kazuya took a long look at the weights wondering how far up he should go until Leah made the decision for him—two hundred and thirty.

"Are you crazy, woman?" Kazuya said gawking at the amount.

"Try it," Leah said simply, "If it's too much, I'll lower it."

Kazuya shrugged then and tried it, but it was like paperweight to his surprise. He'd been expecting a lot more struggle. And he did a few reps without even breaking a sweat. It was strange yet exhilarating. It also didn't make sense. He stopped after he finished the same amount of reps as Leah. When he turned to her he noticed the marked look of amazement on her face.

"You're amazing, you know that?" Leah said. "I mean, advanced bodybuilders can pick up an average of two hundred and seventy-nine pounds, but you stroll in here and pull off two hundred and thirty with ease. I honestly thought you were out of shape—C'mon let me show you this _other_ new machine."

And he was being dragged off again to several other strange contraptions that were supposedly weight machines. The gym had changed quite a bit since he'd been gone. Would it be too much like bragging if he told her that he _was_ out of shape, completely and utterly? He wondered if he should even mention it at all. She was just so amazed. Then he realized he'd never actually compared himself to other people. When he trained, it was for himself. He didn't care what everyone else was doing. Exercising with someone else was a completely new thing to him.

They would test each other's limits. They would see just how much weight they could lift and how many times they could do it. For Leah's benefit as she was so competitive, Kazuya didn't always go all out. He didn't want to wear her out. As soon as she saw just how much he could do, she tried her hand at lifting a little more than usual. _That_ was painful to watch. She was a woman first of all and if she ever wanted to be able to lift as much as Kazuya, she would have to bulk up much more which was not something Kazuya wanted to see. She was the perfect size, at least in Kazuya's eyes. She still appeared womanly in his eyes—a very solid, muscular, buxom woman. The thought of her wanting to reach his level wasn't at all appealing. So eventually he showed off a lot less.

There was, however, one thing that Leah beat him in hands down; endurance. Kazuya was only too glad to allow her some sort of victory that day. He'd always hated treadmills, ellipticals, and the like. Being out of breath and panting like a dog wasn't one of his favorite pastimes. He was reminded of just how out of shape he was. His heart couldn't take so much activity and he gave up after only fifteen minutes of nonstop running. Leah on the other hand just went on and on and on. It was Kazuya's turn to be impressed. She could go on for hours. In terms of fighting, she could probably outlast most fighters if she avoided getting hit too hard. In terms of sex, she probably would never find her equal as far as how long it should go on. Kazuya never did bounce back fully from his treadmill debacle. His stamina was shot thereafter and he could not be convinced to stay longer.

All in all, they spent the entire morning there and despite everything Kazuya thought he had accomplished something. Exercising was never a bad thing and what easier way to get back into such things than with someone who found it to be exciting? They went to her house, changed, and went to another restaurant of her choosing.

"So I guess you wouldn't want to do anything like that ever again," Leah said referring to their gym trip as she browsed the menu.

"Why would you say that?" he asked currently doing the same as she.

"You just seemed kind of worn out afterwards. That's never a good sign."

"Well, I was worn out. But I enjoyed it."

"Really?" Leah asked with suspicion. "You know, I wasn't sure until that moment with the treadmill, but I don't think you've been to the gym in a very long time. I think that was quite impressive what you pulled off in there—but I still think you were holding back."

"Does it matter? I wasn't there to impress anyone."

"That's real cute trying to spare my feelings. I know guys always have an advantage when it comes to those things. You didn't have to baby me."

"I wasn't—Wow," Kazuya said unprepared for what she had said. "I don't 'baby' people. Ask my son, he'll second that."

"Then why? Why did you feel the need to hide? I bet you could have lifted three hundred pounds if you were really trying."

"But I wasn't and it wasn't a competition. Can we just drop it?"

"Sure, Mr. Out-of-shape. I didn't invite you to come with me this morning so you can just half-ass things."

"I don't see why you're making such a big deal out of this."

Leah gave him a look of disbelief as if it was one of the most offensive things he could have said to her. "What do you strive for?" Leah asked out of the blue

"Is that a serious question?" Kazuya asked not sure what to make of it.

"Yes it's a serious question," Leah said a bit flustered. "What do you strive for?"

"I don't—I can't think of anything off the top of my head. And who could? Who randomly asks people things like that?"

"I _know_ it's a weird question, but it's very important to me. I bet you if I were to ask anyone, they'd have an immediate answer. People have things that define their lives. To better their families, to become a better person, to get a higher paying job, to have children, to enjoy life—any one of those. But you, I ask you that question and you draw a blank. Why not strive for something?"

"Like what?" Kazuya asked humoring her.

"For instance," Leah began with the beginnings of a smile. "You're not as physically fit as I'm sure you used to be. You could strive to change that. You could put real effort into building back up your endurance and reach the level that you were if not higher."

"There'd be no point. Why would I want to do that?"

"So then you have something to strive for. It's just something to do. Something to look forward to when you wake up in the morning."

"Leah, I know how much you like exercising, but those things don't hold any meaning to me anymore."

Leah gave him an apologetic look, but then a thought came to her. "Why did you do it before? Trying to look nice for the ladies?"

"I was…into fighting back then. Going to tournaments. My father had me do those things and even when I was an adult I still did it. It wasn't exactly a requirement to build up your muscles. With most fighting techniques, it isn't necessary. You just have to know how to use what you got. I just always wanted more strength. I wanted each hit I dished out to have a formidable impact on my opponent. I guess I'm just getting into the minutia of things."

"No, it's fine. It's actually quite interesting. I can tell you really enjoyed what you did back then."

"I know what you're getting at."

"Why not, Kazuya? What other meaningful things are you doing with your life? Maybe you wouldn't be getting back into shape just for the heck of it, but for your love of combat. Learning how to fight, gaining technique—those things must have taken you quite a while to master. Would you really let that knowledge become useless? All that work you must have put into it in the past…"

"Tell you what, I'll think about it."

"Well, it's a start. I'll take what I can get. Will you come to the gym with me tomorrow?"

"You just won't give up, will you?"

"I don't see anyone else trying to push you to do anything so that job falls to me," Leah said with a broad smile.

"If you really want to motivate me, you'll let me stay the night."

"You sly little man. Alright."

Leah was fine with him wanting to stay the night. Any excuse to get closer to him was fine. She knew it was dangerous what she was doing, becoming attracted almost obsessed with a man who only bothered with her because he was superficially attracted to her. The moment she ceased being attractive to him or he tired of their sex, he would probably abandon her. She held no illusions of this fact. She thought she knew him, though. A man desperate for some sort of affection still in the throes of deep sorrow for the woman who he had given up everything for. She didn't expect him to ever love her. It was too soon, first of all. They had met under the wrong circumstances and too soon after his wife's death. She didn't stand a chance. All that aside, she still wanted to help him.

/

AN: One of the reviews said I was Jun bashing—I'm not. I have nothing against Jun, but I do like to go against the grain sometimes just to keep things interesting. People think Jun is perfect; I'm probably going to make her less "perfect". People think Kazuya is beyond redeemable; I'm probably going to show him in the opposite light. People think Jin is sexy all the time; I'll probably show him in a less than sexy light.

Yes, I am writing again. Still on a mission to finish every story I started including this one. ^.^; Thank you again, everyone for the reviews. More Jin in the next chapter. And sorry if anyone really, really wanted Jun to show up in the story. She's not. She's dead. Thus the title, but hopefully this story will still be enjoyable for you. I'm not always sure about what's going to happen in the story even while I'm writing, but I'm pretty sure I'm not going to have Jun magically reappear after dying from cancer. Now that would be a zombie story...Although stranger things have happened in Tekken…


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Some days, Jin would find his father tuckered out from whatever it was he was doing when he was away from the house sprawled out on the couch. Other days, Jin wouldn't see him at all. It began to concern him more and more especially since his father wouldn't divulge him as to what he was doing. He didn't understand why it had to be a secret. Was it something illegal? Was it something embarrassing?

Meanwhile, he was simply performing his regular school activities without much thought. His peers avoided him like the plague and his teachers made it a point not to call on him in class. He was grateful for both of these things to a certain degree. He didn't feel like putting up with conversations, but on the other hand he found that he sorely missed them. He would have spoken with his father had he been more available. Now he seemed to be off doing his own thing and Jin was left feeling utterly alone. Misery liked company—his father could no longer be that company.

All of that, however, changed on a whim or a dare to be more exact. That kids his age still participated in such silly activities was far beyond Jin's understanding. Maybe he hadn't been in public schools long enough to ever understand. The sound of playful giggling was a familiar one in school. It rarely had anything to do with him, but there would always be a group of girls gossiping or what have you somewhere within earshot. That was simply what girls did. It was the start of another normal, mundane day when he heard such laughter as he took out his textbook from his locker. He thought nothing of it until he came face to face with one of his classmates. He was startled, but he didn't have much motivation to actually show such emotions and she looked ready to melt away. He looked up from her instinctively towards the nearby group of girls. Somehow he knew they must have put the poor girl up to it.

"What do you want?" Jin asked finally when he saw that she would not say anything. He was tiring of all the attention she was drawing to him.

"Um…hi," she said meekly.

"Hi," Jin said back automatically.

Before he could say anything else, she was sprinting back to her friends. Whatever had happened, the girls must have derived quite a bit of amusement from it. Was it now a dare to simply say "hi" to him? Jin shook his head in annoyance. As he strolled off to his next class, he began to realize how standoffish he must appear to people. Then he shrugged. He didn't feel like changing that fact. It was too late anyway. It was nearly impossible to make friends in the middle of a school year. One had to start bright and early with such things. Besides, he already had friends…or acquaintances and he had burned his bridges with them, unwilling to open up to them about his problems. Jin wasn't sure anyone knew what had happened to his mother. It wasn't big news. If he didn't say anything, his father certainly wouldn't come to his school simply to inform everyone of what had happened. Even if he did do such a thing, Jin would have felt beyond self-conscious around everyone. Better to keep them in ignorance. He wanted to deal with the pain alone and in silence. It had been easy thus far. Even when the teachers had activities that required a partner, Jin was left alone and the teacher wouldn't bother enforcing anything.

That wasn't the case this day. Jin had recognized the girls from before to be in his next class along with the shy girl. There was yet another assignment where the students were meant to partner up with another to finish. The teacher stopped bothering with him long ago about participation. He simply stayed at his desk in the back corner of the classroom and began on the Math problems she had written on the board. He was prepared to do everything—solve the function as well as graphing it. He had just started on the first problem when a shadow fell over him. He looked up a little annoyed thinking it could only have been the teacher wanting to gripe at him for not choosing a partner and forcing a group to triple up with him. But no, it was the shy girl from before. It was a shame that he didn't know her name. In fact, he didn't know many students' names in the first place.

"What do you want?" Jin asked again with more than a little annoyance in his tone.

She shrank away a little and Jin felt a little guilty for his brusqueness. "Umm…" she began in a small voice, but she didn't continue.

"You don't always have to do what those girls tell you," he said feeling some pity for the girl.

"…Sorry, I just…wanted to do the problems with you."

Jin gave her an exasperated look. "I don't need any help."

"Oh no, I…don't really know how to do them and no one wants to help me."

"Ask the teacher."

"…But she told me to get help from others…and no one wants to help…You seem to know what you're doing."

It was then that Jin took a quick look at the class at large all separated out in twos. None of them seemed to be dealing with the problems at hand unless math was really that entertaining as he saw some of them joking and carrying on. Could it be? No one was really working on the problems and simply waiting for the teacher to go over them and give them the answers?

"You're not giving me much of a choice, are you? Alright, I'll show you."

"You will?" the girl said hesitantly.

"I said I would, didn't I?"

Soon the girl was pulling up a desk next to him. Jin didn't even notice all the sneaking side glances from the other students nor the whispers. Jin started from the beginning and taught her as he had taught himself. She wasn't lying when she said she had no idea what she was doing. It was as if she'd completely missed the point of class for the past two weeks. But he did gain some sense of satisfaction when she was able to do the second problem all on her own at least it looked like she could finish the problem had the teacher given them more time on the problems. Unfortunately, the teacher was ready to continue the lesson before she actually finished.

"Thank you," she said quietly, but he could clearly see how grateful she was—her eyes showed him all.

Perhaps this wasn't simply another prank. However, he shook his head when she walked back over to her friends and they started up the giggling once again. On the other hand, maybe it was. Jin didn't understand any of it. He was thankful for the class to be over and never see that group of girls for the rest of the day.

He came home that day to his sleeping father who stayed on the couch. Jin wondered if he'd ever be able to sleep in his own bedroom again. It had taken him awhile to figure out the reason why his father insisted on the couch. It wasn't to punish himself needlessly, it was that the bedroom must have had too many memories of Jun attached to it. In some ways, Jin thought his father to be worse off than he. Jin had loved his mother, but he was old enough to know that that kind of love didn't compare to the kind Kazuya must have shared with his mother. If it was true that his father did love his mother romantically, then it must have been a greater loss to lose her so soon. While it was true that the son was supposed to outlive his parents, if Romeo and Juliet was any indication, most lovers didn't want to see the other pass before them. Kazuya had known her far longer than he ever would and his memories of her must have been extensive. He knew her intimately, in ways that he could not. He stood there for a moment watching his father, but then turned to go to his room, but not before the doorbell rang.

That the doorbell rang was beyond strange. The only person he could think it to be was a delivery man, but what in the world had they ordered? Jin looked to his father who had not moved a muscle, completely oblivious. Then Jin sucked it up and walked over to the door. He peered through the peephole and saw a woman, no, a man woman. She seemed quite intimidating. He wasn't sure he should open it as she was a complete stranger and she wasn't holding any packages. She knocked then and called out his father's name. That caught him by surprise. How did this woman know his name? She knocked again and finally Jin decided he would open it. He was intrigued. His father had taken to doing things secretly perhaps he might learn something.

The woman spoke first when he opened it. "Oh, you must be Jin! You're practically the spitting image. Your father talks about you a lot."

"Sorry, but who are you?"

"You mean he hasn't mentioned anything about me?" the woman asked flabbergasted.

Jin shook his head no. She was a little taller than him and he felt small in her presence.

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Maybe I should go, then. Sorry I disturbed you."

"Wait," Jin said before she turned. "You know my father, how?"

"Well if he hasn't told you, then I don't think it's my place to say."

"I don't care. Just tell me."

"I really should go…" she said backing away.

"Damn it, I'm tired of all this secrecy. Who the Hell are you, anyway? Why do you know my father?"

"I'm sure your father wouldn't like to know that you speak to ladies in that tone," she said becoming a bit defensive.

"My father doesn't care about that stuff. Mom did, but he doesn't."

"You really think so? From personal experience, your father is a perfect gentleman towards females. Maybe you should follow his example."

"Wait a minute," Jin said his voice reaching a slightly higher note as something came to him. "Are you guys—dating or something?"

"Well, I can't very well lie in front of your face if you've already figured that much out. We're not 'dating' per se. We're… seeing each other for now under a mutual agreement."

"You're dating," Jin said matter-of-factly. "I can't…I just can't believe this. That heartless bastard. Here I am feeling sorry for the guy and he's already moved on."

"I wouldn't say that—

"No, it's obvious."

"Do _not_ interrupt me, boy," Leah said a little harshly. This quieted Jin immediately. "When I say we're not dating, we're not dating. You don't put words in my mouth. We're nothing more than friends, ever heard of those? We just hang out together from time to time so you can stop your bellyaching."

Jin paused for a moment in thought as he stood back and really looked at the woman. "I guess you're right. You're not even his type."

Leah frowned at him. "You're a real charmer, aren't you? The ladies just swoon over you," she said with sarcasm.

"I have no need for girlfriends," Jin retorted. "Did you want to see my father? He's asleep so you won't get much out of him."

"Is it okay if I wait inside, then? I wanted to tell him something important, but he hasn't been returning my calls."

"Maybe that's a sign."

"Are you letting me in or not?" Leah said tiring of Jin's belittlement.

Jin stepped out of the way and allowed her in.

"Thank you." Leah found him immediately. "He's really quite handsome, isn't he?" Leah said quietly to herself, but Jin heard and frowned.

Jin watched as she walked over and shook him to wakefulness and he frowned even more. What gave her the right to invade his space and interrupt his father's sleep? What could be so important? Kazuya groaned a little as he transitioned out of his heavy sleep. Jin thought he'd be a little more surprised to see the strange woman first thing waking up, but if he was, he was good at disguising this fact. He was more confused than surprised. Jin watched with crossed arms.

"Leah? What are you doing here?" Kazuya asked still not fully awake, but awake enough to ask basic questions and put a name to the face before him.

"Hope I didn't startle you too much."

Kazuya looked at her questioningly and then sat up slowly. He stretched a little, muscles popping. The couch was a cramped place to rest.

"Thought I might give you this." Leah slipped something out of her purse and handed to him what looked like an invitation.

In fact, it was an invitation. Kazuya opened it and read it quickly. Slowly, the cloudiness in his eyes dissipated and he was able to read with comprehension after a moment.

"You want me to go to some kind of dance?" Kazuya asked.

"My sister is having a get-together at her place. Thought I might bring you along—if you're not too busy."

Jin stifled a laugh. "My dad doesn't go to parties."

Kazuya only gave the other a passing glance. "You know I'm not too busy."

"Then it's set."

Jin could only look on in disbelief. He had actually agreed to it and without a second thought.

"Don't you have homework or something to do?" Kazuya asked the staring Jin in dismissive tones.

"Uh…yeah, lots of it," Jin lied.

"Wait a minute, you could come too. I'm sure my niece would be bringing lots of kids your age."

"I—well…"

"Leah, can't you see he doesn't want to be bothered. Besides, you wouldn't catch him dead socializing with the general public."

Jin looked at his father in annoyance. "Thanks for making me sound like a douche in front of your little girlfriend."

"Maybe you are," Kazuya retorted.

"Now, Kazuya—" Leah began, but was cut off by Jin.

"It takes one to know one."

"Why don't you scramble back off to your cave where you came from?"

"Well, at least I'm not pretending to be someone I'm not."

Leah couldn't believe the amount of degradation that was occurring right before her eyes. "Boys, that's enough," Leah said standing up. She was grateful for her height at times like these—it was much easier to draw their attention. "Listen, Jin, I invited you because I thought it might do you some good. If you don't want to come, that's fine. And Kazuya," she said taking a pause, "You don't have to stoop down to his level—he's just a kid, you know."

"I'm _not_ just a kid," Jin said defiantly.

"Well, you're certainly not an adult," Kazuya said back quickly.

Leah sighed exasperatedly. "Don't let me interrupt. I think I should take my leave."

"No, you should stay," Kazuya said, "You came all this way. It'd be a shame to kick you out so soon."

But he hadn't been looking at Leah as he said this, his attention was on Jin. Leah wondered if she should stay or leave. Something told her that things might escalate if she left and there was no excuse to show any sort of decency. If she stayed, there might be a way to salvage the situation.

"The _only_ thing you're good at is moping around feeling sorry for yourself—it's pathetic," Kazuya said with a challenging tone.

"The only difference between you and me is that you're a better actor."

"Jealousy doesn't become you. Why don't you just tell me the real reason you don't want to go? You'd be forced to actually _talk_ to people and to complete strangers no less. Face it, when there's no one to hold your hand, you can't do anything."

He was referring to Jun, Jin was sure of it. That Jun would often have to apply force to get Jin to do anything out of the norm was no secret to either of them. Now that she was gone, he simply returned to his safe zone where he wouldn't have to deal with anyone but himself. It also made his claim that he wasn't a child seem silly. Normal, mature people didn't lock themselves in their room or pretend that there was no one else in the world besides themselves. They didn't argue with their father when they became jealous or act rudely to people because he didn't feel like acting any other way.

"I can do what I please, when I please," Jin argued back. "I don't _need_ anyone to hold my hand," he said looking away.

"Is that so?" Kazuya said tauntingly, a tone that he knew would annoy Jin.

Jin turned to Leah then, "I'll go to your party—that is, if I'm still invited."

"Of course you are," Leah replied as encouragingly as she could. "Invite as many people as you like."

Kazuya gave him a look that he was able to interpret well. He knew that he had no one to invite and that he would be there on his own. He'd be completely out of his element and his father knew it—it amused his father. Jin left before he could say anything else damaging or regret his latest decision. In the end, he wanted to be left alone locked away in his room.

Leah watched him go and shook her head. "Kazuya, you didn't have to be so rude. He's your son."

"He has no backbone. No doubt thanks to Jun babying him far too much. Besides…I can't let him go on like this. Being alone isn't all that it's cracked up to be."

Leah was still standing, but Kazuya soon joined her and pulled her close. Those same arms which held her so securely could also lift her up so easily, she realized. It was a strange sensation. She'd never found herself in such a situation, had never expected it. She was used to the guy being smaller, unsure about himself, only going out with her because no one else would give them the time of the day. Not this man. He certainly wasn't small and she certainly wasn't his last resort. He could have chosen any woman, really, but he had chosen her and actually liked something about her. Sure, she knew what that something was as she allowed him to fondle her breasts once again—he couldn't seem to get enough of them—but it was something out of the norm for her and she was grateful. They never so much as kissed each other on the lips and Leah never pushed the issue. He must have regarded it as too intimate, too soon.

She didn't stay too much longer after. She could tell from the look in his eyes that he wanted to do more, but she refused to do such activities while his son could easily be listening in. So their day came to a close as Leah eventually returned to her apartment.


End file.
